Ashes: Australia names Khawaja, Harris in for Starc, Cowan at Lord's

Another chance for Harris ... reports suggest Ryan Harris will get a chance to bowl at the English batsmen at Lord's.

Getty Images: Hamish Blair

Australian selectors have made two changes for the second Test at Lord's, dropping batsman Ed Cowan and pace bowler Mitchell Starc.

Usman Khawaja will come in at number three while Ryan Harris will replace Starc in the bowling attack.

Phil Hughes will bat fourth while skipper Michael Clarke will follow him at fifth.

The pitch has more grass on it than the dry first Test wicket at Trent Bridge, and the 33-year-old Harris is seen as one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in the world when fit and conditions are conducive to the ball nibbling around.

Cowan's place was already under pressure after his first-innings duck followed by a return of 14 in the second dig at Trent Bridge.

Starc had a reasonable game with the ball, with match figures of 5 for 135, but he managed only one run in two innings.

If Harris is chosen, it would be his first Test match in more than a year.

The left-armer Starc was good in patches at Trent Bridge, and his point-of-difference makes him a difficult man to leave out.

But it is believed Harris might have the better control for Lord's and its infamous slope - which can become a graveyard for errant quicks, as Mitchell Johnson found out back in 2009.

The injury-prone quick is fit, and there is a feeling Australia cannot afford to go 2-0 down in the series without having thrown Harris at the England batsmen.

Fast bowlers Peter Siddle, Starc and Jackson Bird were all given the day off training on Wednesday.

Leading into the Trent Bridge Test, that was a dead giveaway for the make-up of the attack - with all rested bowlers playing - but the picture seems less clear heading into this match.

On the batting side, dropping Cowan will not be an easy decision, given his qualities as a team man and how hard he has worked to get to where he is.

Khawaja has been a perennial bridesmaid on recent tours - picked in the party, but never actually getting a Test.

If the 26-year-old cannot get an opportunity here, then his chances of getting a run at all this Ashes series appear bleak.

Coach Darren Lehmann has made it clear he wants runs, and Cowan didn't deliver in the first Test.

Whoever is selected is likely to have to produce at Lord's to stay in the team, with David Warner a possibility to return for the third Test at Old Trafford.